


Stay (With Me)

by TheDuchessUnseen



Series: A Love to Ignite the Stars [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dissociation, F/F, Lena has been through too much, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-05 03:45:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12786249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDuchessUnseen/pseuds/TheDuchessUnseen
Summary: Angela hears one of her teammates crying in the middle of the night and goes to help.





	Stay (With Me)

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick fic for Speedy Recovery!

A scream, short and panicked rang through the barracks of Watchpoint: Gibraltar.  Angela Ziegler, still awake at the ungodly hour, wasted no time in pulling a robe on over her nightgown and heading towards the room the scream came from.  She knew who it came from the second she heard it.  She had heard that scream far too often in the days of the old Overwatch.

She stood outside Lena’s room, tapping quietly on the door before gently opening it.

            “Lena?” she asked as softly as she could.  No one was lying in the bed, the only light in the room coming from the young woman’s accelerator on its charging stand.  In the narrow space between the bed and nightstand, a shape moved.  Heart breaking, Angela got on her knees, crawling over to the crying women.  “Lena darling it’s me, it’s Angela.” 

Lena was shaking, hugging her knees tight to her chest, not even lifting her head. 

            “All right, let’s try this.  What are five things you can see?”

After a few minutes Lena responded.  “My nightstand, the window, bed.” she looked at Angela.  “You, your eyes, tired- baggy.  You’ve been staying up all night again.”  She took a shaky breath, “My accelerator.”

            “Good mein schatz, can you name four things you can hear?” 

Lena’s eyes screwed shut in concentration.  “The accelerator, it’s humming, rain, there’s a storm outside.  I hear, my heartbeat, it’s fast, very fast.  I hear-” a loud clap of thunder echoed through the watchpoint.  Lena screamed again, burrowing her head into her knees.  “I don’t want to disappear again!  I don’t want to disappear again!  I don’t want to disappear again!” she kept screaming between loud, choking sobs.

            “Lena listen to me.” Angela pleaded, she was worried, Lena hadn’t had an episode this bad in a while, at least not that she knew of, it had been so long since they had seen each other.  “Lena please darling just one more thing you can hear, I know you can do it you were doing so well.  Lena please, you’re so strong, stronger than anyone should ever have to be, I just need you to be strong just a little bit longer.” 

            “You.” Lena said between body-wracking sobs, “I hear you.”

Angela smiled, “That’s good, I’m so proud of you Lena, you’re doing so well.  Now can you tell me three things you can touch?” 

A shaky arm moved up, gripping the edge of the nightstand.  “The nightstand, metal, hard, too hard.  I think I’d like a wooden one.” she moved to the floor, “Hard floor too, it’s cold, so cold.”

Angela noticed her breathing becoming gentler, more relaxed. 

            “The bedsheets,” Lena said. “They’re starchy, stiff.”

Lena had stopped crying now.  “Very good Lena, now two things you can smell.”

            “The watchpoint.” she sniffed, “It smells like home.  You, you still have that same lavender perfume.”

Angela’s eyes widened, she had no clue Lena would remember such a small detail.  Putting that aside, she focused on Lena again.  “You are doing so well liebling, now just one thing you can taste.” 

Lena licked her hand with a grimace, “My sweat, it’s really nasty.” 

Lena took a deep breath, letting her head rest against the wall.  Seemingly out of nowhere, Angela produced a tissue.

            “Thanks.” Lena panted, blowing her nose roughly.  Angela sat with her, offering her more to wipe the tears from her face.

            “Let’s get you back into your bed okay?” Angela said when she thought Lena was stable enough to move.

            “Angie.”  Angela looked at Lena, eyes wide with fear and, a blush?  “Can I stay with you tonight?” Lena asked, her whisper barely audible.  “I can’t be alone, I just can’t.”

Angela agreed immediately.  Being alone was the last thing Lena needed.

She stood, helping Lena to her feet.  It wasn’t till then that she noticed that the other woman wasn’t wearing a shirt.  Lena, still dazed, didn’t seem to care much. 

            “Put this on dear.”  Angela said quietly, holding out a tee shirt emblazoned with the Overwatch logo.  Lena pulled it on in silence, Angela’s heart breaking as she saw the surgical scar running between Lena’s breasts, ending just a few inches above her belly button.  Angela was still haunted by dreams of that night.  When Lena finally reappeared.  The young woman’s eyes wide in panic, how she thrashed before they sedated her, how she had to cut open the chest of the woman she had been secretly crushing on for months. 

A flash of lightning brought Angela back to the present, Lena flinched at the light and began hugging herself tightly.

            “Angie?” Lena asked, not even looking at the other woman.  “Will you carry me?”

            “Yes of course.” Angela said, her mind on how to carry both Lena and her accelerator.  Her problem was solved by the sound of soft footsteps along the hall.  “Stay here dear, I will be right back.”  Lena nodded and Angela quickly poked her head outside.  Hanzo was walking down the hall, a mug of tea in hand.  “Hanzo.” Angela whispered.  He turned, surprised.

            “Doctor Ziegler.” he glanced up at the name on the door, “Is Ms. Oxton all right?” he asked, concern tinging his voice. 

Angela shook her head, “She had an episode so I am moving her to my quarters for the night, will you please carry her accelerator?”

            “Of course.” another clap of thunder burst through the night.

            “I’ll be right out with her.” Angela said, quickly running back in Lena’s room.

She was still standing, her eyes shut tight.

            “Lena darling?” Angela asked, “I’m going to carry you now, all right?”

Lena shook her head, “My accelerator, I can’t leave it I’ll disappear again.”

            “No no no,” Angela hushed her.  “Hanzo is right outside, he’ll carry it for you.”

This seemed to satisfy Lena who held out her arms, with a grunt, Angela picked Lena up, and carried her bridal style out of the room. 

            “Good to see you Lena.” Hanzo smiled slightly before heading into her room, he came out holding her accelerator and its stand.

The trio began their walk to Angela’s room, Hanzo making sure to hold the accelerator where Lena could see it at all times.  He put the accelerator in the corner of Angela’s room before leaving with a soft ‘good night.’

Angela set Lena down, pulling her, much softer, sheets over the young woman before crawling under herself. 

            “Hold me please.” Lena said.

Angela pulled Lena into her arms, holding her tight. 

Lena laid there, letting herself into Angela’s arms.  She had dreamed of this so many nights, her sharing a bed with Angela, being held in the other woman’s capable arms.  Arms that always made her feel safe and secure.  Arms that held her when she was out of the slipstream and made sure she knew that she was real.  Lena remembered when she first saw Angela, it was in a doctors waiting room, Angela wasn’t with Overwatch yet.  The article was about a young medical graduate who had made remarkable advancements in medicine.  Lena stuffed the magazine in her satchel just to have a picture of the pretty doctor.  When she actually met Angela, she could barely form two words, painfully aware of how that magazine had never left her nightstand. 

The thunder made her flinch again.  Angela’s arms tightened around her.

            “You are here Lena, you’re safe with me.”

Lena nodded, “I’m here, I’m real.” she said, her throat dry. 

Sighing, she began to breathe deeply, trying to calm down when an impossibly gentle voice began to sing.

 _“Little child, be not afraid. The rain pounds harsh against the glass like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger.  I am here tonight.  Little child, be not afraid though thunder explodes and lightning flash illuminates your tearstained face.  I am here tonight.  And someday you'll know that nature is so.  This same rain that draws you near me falls on rivers and land and forests and sand, makes the beautiful world that you see in the morning.  Little child, be not afraid, the storm clouds mask your beloved moon, and its candlelight beams still keep pleasant dreams, I am here tonight.  Little child, be not afraid.  The wind makes creatures of our trees, and the branches to hands, they're not real, understand and I am here tonight.”_  
  
Lena sighed, relaxing even more.  Angela’s voice was so beautiful she could listen to it forever.  
  
            _“For you know, once even I was a little child, and I was afraid.  But a gentle someone always came to dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep the fears and to give a kiss goodnight.  Well, now I am grown, and these years have shown, rain's a part of how life goes.  But it's dark and it's late, so I'll hold you and wait 'til your frightened eyes do close.  And I hope that you'll know that nature is so.  This same rain that draws you near me falls on rivers and land and forests and sand, makes the beautiful world that you see, In the morning.  Everything's fine in the morning, the rain will be gone in the morning, but I'll still be here in the morning.”_

Lena relaxed as the song ended, her tense muscles relaxing and breathing slowing.  Angela gently kissed the top of Lena’s head as the young pilot finally fell asleep. 

Angela remembered the first time she ever saw Lena.  She was walking along the street when a magazine cover caught her eye.  She was never one for technology magazines, but that day she bought that magazine with the dashing young woman on the cover.  Hair so perfectly messy, cocky grin and aviators all topped with a brilliant white scarf.  Angela was smitten.  Then when she finally met Lena.  She forgot her name and was only able to think of how she was shaking hands with woman whose magazine cover photo she had framed in her room.

This was nice she thought.  It had been so long since she had been close to anyone, even just holding someone, though she wished it was under different circumstances. 

Angela fell asleep a few moments later, still holding Lena in her arms. 

**Author's Note:**

> The song Angela sings is Lullaby for a Stormy Night by Vienna Teng  
> Also huge thanks to Buttons15 and the fic Sensory Input for teaching me how to talk to someone dissociating.  
> Please comment/kudo if you liked it!!


End file.
